For the $15 tier confusion, just want to clarify that $15 will entitle you to a digital download for ANY of the three platforms you want (PC, Mac and Linux). We will send you the download code when the game is released.

What is Forsaken Fortress?

Forsaken Fortress will immerse you in the experience of living and survival in a post-apocalyptic world.

Unlike many other existing post-apocalyptic RPGs, Forsaken Fortress emphasizes simulation features such as base building, character personality/interaction, and resource collection. You will need to lead a group of survivors to construct your base and maintain its basic functions, such as electricity generation or food storage. Meanwhile, you will ensure the base's security by building defenses and setting traps. You will also need to lead your expedition team to the wasteland to gather supplies and to work on missions, balancing their professional skills in order to maximize their effectiveness. Characters in Forsaken Fortress are highly dynamic in their behavior. They have needs, goals and personalities which will influence their daily life and decision making. Some of them may fall in love and some of them may not get along, but all them bring life to the devastated, forsaken world.

"Yesterday we destroyed the earth, today we survived, and tomorrow we will redeem. But where is the destiny of humanity going to end? The rules of survival may drive us to this point again in the future; the same may happen within our own base. Will people still get along when there is no more food? Perhaps the we pose a greater threat to ourselves than the beasts of the wastelands..."

Core Features

Base Building and Management

Design and build your base to harbor your survivors. You need to build basic, life-sustaining facilities such as bedrooms, storage rooms, and kitchens to fulfill the basic needs of the survivors. You also need to construct supporting structures such as clinics to heal the injured, or play rooms to entertain your squad. Meanwhile, you need to ensure security of the base by building defenses such as electric traps, sandbags and bunkers.

Your base will be assaulted by a range of hostile forces, ranging from rival squads to the twisted denizens of Earth's surface. Position your forces, upgrade your weaponry, and maintain the perimeter to ensure survival during prolonged sieges!

Resource Collection and ExplorationExplore the massive forsaken world for loots and missions.You need to lead your squad to collect resources (food, water and raw materials for building) and work on missions in the surrounding environment. There are many types of resources that you can find: wild creatures for hunting, ponds for water, trees for wood, dilapidated vehicles for scrap metal, and more. The most coveted prizes may not be left unguarded, and you may have to fight tooth-and-nail to acquire what you need.

Rich Character Development and InteractionThroughout the game, you will find dozens of characters to join your team. Each character has unique personalities and traits. These traits can be positive - such as the Cat Eye (better performance at night) - or negative - such as Cowardice (a propensity to flee from battle). Traits can be dynamically developed throughout the game. For instance, if you frequently send one person into bloody combat, he or she might develop a trait of Aggressive (may shoot wildly and randomly during a fierce combat). You can interact with different characters to manipulate their attitude towards you. For instance, bribing will temporarily improve relationships, while developing friendships will have more benefit in the long term. Just as with real people, basic needs such as food, water and rest must be met. Higher needs, such as social interaction, comfort, entertainment and even ego must also be monitored. The better you keep your party member's needs fulfilled, the better chances you have to survive.

Personnel ManagementOutfit and balance your expedition teams to suit the needs of the mission, and assign squad members within the base to where they will be needed most – fences will need repair, food must be cooked, the injured will need healing, and supplies must be distributed. Balance labor and relief to maximum squad members' morale.

Customization and ResearchYou can change your character's and your party members' clothing, armor, pants, shoes, helmet and shoulder-pads. You can also equip them with different accessories such as a backpack for carrying more loots or a sun glass to avoid sun-blindness. You can also assign your party members to do research on new medicine or new upgrades.

CraftingYou can assign your squad members to craft new items, weapons, ammo and so on.

The Evolving WorldAlmost everything in the forsaken world is constantly evolving based on the principles of cause and effect. What you see today may be gone tomorrow. A friendly stranger you encounter during a scavenging trip maybe the one who murders your squad mates the following day.

Squad Combat The combat is real time with pause option.You can divide your combat party into smaller squads (e.g. two squads of three troops each), at which point you can issue orders to a specific squad. For example, you can direct squad one to go to a location, and for squad two to follow. The characters’ AI will react based on your orders, so that you won't have to worry about controlling everything in real time. However, through manual control, you can still retain some degree of tactical strategy, such as flanking the enemy.

When will Forsaken Fortress be released?

The release date is targeted for the 2013 holiday season. This will be a DRM-free, cross-platform release, meaning you can play on any PC , Mac or Linux.

Who is Photon Productions and why support Forsaken Fortress?

We are an indie studio with a goal of bringing you a new experience to the RPG genre. What you see here was put together by a small team comprised of two artists, two programmers, and a few freelancers in a small underground bunker near New York. After working on this project part time for 6 months，we think that now is the time to accelerate and commit ourselves full time to the project. Kickstarter is our best chance of getting funded. In fact, Kickstarter's competitive mechanic is making us even more productive and dedicated.

We are very conscious about keeping a video game meaningful. A successful video game should be something people can get emotionally attached to. This is why we are incorporating simulation elements into Forsaken Fortress. Supply shortages, the loss of loved ones, hate, affection, greed and jealousy — all of these reflect the reality of living in a post-apocalyptic world, and serve to engage the player emotionally. We believe our team member’s qualifications in gameplay designing, art and coding and knowledge of psychology, humanity, and passion will make it possible to effectively implement such complex features in the game.

As a small team, we have the freedom and pleasure of interacting with people, and to work on deeper game mechanics and meanings instead of making games simply for money.

We have done a lot of development so far, and we need your generous support to accelerate the process and to deliver the best we can!

The Team

Freelancers:

Peng Peng, 3d artist, animator: Majored in computer graphic design, Peng is now working as a full-time 3d animator. Thanks Peng for the huge contribution on the pitch video!

Xin Yin, 2d designer and character artist: Xin is a talented character designer with combination skills of 2d graphic design and 3d modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering.

Stephen Bullen, Sound designer and music composer: Graduated from Eastman school of music, Stephen has done a lot of professional scoring for films, animations and video games.

With your help, we will make this game the best it can possibly be! Thank you for your time and your contributions!

Add-Ons

You can add something extra to your reward by selecting add-ons if you want! You will need to click the "Manage Your Pledge" button, then add in the amount and let us know which add-on you want : ) You can contact us by sending us messages(the button is on the right side of the pitch video)For physical add-ons, please add $10 for international shipping. Thanks!

Digital Add-ons:

Digital collector's book($7)

An additional copy of the game ($15)

Physical Add-ons:

1 Backer only T-Shirt($15)

1 Backer only Poster($15)

1 Special handmade photo frame ($30)

1 Special handmade keychain tag ($20)

1 Character and Monster card set($25)

1 Captain's Diary ($40)

1 Hardcover collector's book ($４5)

1 Limited-Edition Character Miniature ($250)

Exclusive Add-ons(not included in any reward tiers)

Your name will appear somewhere in the game($30) <16 left>

We will use your name as an item name, minor location name, building name or an NPC’s name.

Your name will be used as a major area name($100) <8 left>

Johnson Hill, Rose River...

Become a “Radio Channel” in the Forsaken World($350) <2 left>

Do you remember the “Three Dog” in Fallout? You will become the same thing. Your voice will be recorded and be played when you turn on a radio. You will design the message you want to deliver, as well as the “personality” you want your listener to perceive. Note that this add-on doesn’t include a game character, which means people won't find an NPC of you anywhere. If you want to have a “physical” appearance in the game, you need the character tier as well.

In-game Pet modeled after your pet ($170) <5 left>

You will need to provide front and side pictures of your pet and let us know what skills it has. For example, you can give your dog pet a skill of "Food Finder". Please no dragons or anything like that. And please no squirrels. A squirrel is not a pet, it is a god!

Design and name a Standard Item(weapon, armor, food or item) ($80) <10 left>

You will work with us on its appearance, attribute, function and how you can find this item or the material needed to craft this item. If it is a gun, you need to define its caliber, accuracy, and mag size. Players can find this item easily.

You will work with us on its appearance, attribute, function and how you can find this item or the material needed to craft this item. This item should be hard to find or comes with a specific mission.

Design and name a small In-game Village($650) <3 left>

You will provide this town's history, it’s possible residents, its function, its location and appearance. Note that the village is much smaller than the town from $2000 reward tier.

You will decide its name, appearance, function and location. It can be your house, your high school, your favorite movie theater, etc.

Become a monster lord in the game($400)<3 left>

We will make you into a bad-ass human-shaped monster boss. Similar to the character package, you need to provide us your photo, preferred skills, attack styles, preferred location, favorite food and so on.

What is in the collector's book?

Game arts(concept arts, paintings, landscapes...)

Screenshots

Stories and setting

Characters in FF

Monsters and factions

Items, weapons, vehicles，facilities.....

Fan art and stories

The survival guide

The making of FF

What is the Hand-made photo frame?It is a photo frame designed and assembled by the team, using small metal pieces.

What is the Keychain tag?It is also hand-made by the team. Made of metal and wood.

What is the Captain's diary?It is a diary notebook with your name and Forsaken Fortress logo on it. And we will put something special in it. :D

What is the character miniature?It is a 3D printed and hand painted miniature of a character in FF.

What is the character and monster card set?It is a set of collectible cards with characters' and monsters' picture on the front and information on the back.

What about the T-shirt?You can choose one from the three designs.

Rewards

Risks and challenges

You may have noticed that Forsaken Fortress draws from a wide variety of influences in its gameplay design. Balancing the different aspects of defense, RPG, and simulation games will be critical to ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience. Consolidating these styles is a challenge, but not one that will defeat our game designers, who are already hard at work balancing the interplay of these mechanics.

As with any video game venture, there are a number of challenges to be faced during the creation process. There is the risk that this project will be late, will run short on funds, or will lose staff to burnout or other factors.
While this is part of the business in general, every dollar you contribute will help us avoid and surmount these types of challenges.

Being a small development studio, Photon Productions isn't backed by a corporate mass-marketing machine. Our game is supported by hard work and word-of-mouth. Tell you friends and spread the word!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

Digital only $75（(This pack is not included in any other tier）
2 DRM-free digital copies of the game for PC, Mac or Linux + exclusive kickstarter in-game item +free updates after the game is complete +1 digital hi-res map + 1 beta key
+ the game soundtrack (MP3s) + digital high-resolution wallpapers + digital collector's book + screen saver + Special thanks in the credits

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

All previous rewards + hard cover collector's book. The book includes the art from the world of Forsaken Fortress, its history, characters, story and more. + your name in the credits as "Bronze Backer"

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $350 or more
About $350

Memento Package =
All Deluxe Edition items + A personalized memento about you or loved one will be placed in the Forsaken Fortress world. For example, a diary in an abandoned hut. + your name in the credits as "Master Backer".

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $750 or more
About $750

Personalized Package =
Miniature Package + You will be made into a recruitable character in the game, you need provide us your portrait and you will determine this character's attributes. + your name in the credits as "Grand Backer". Free Shipping

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,200 or more
About $1,200

Super Personalized Package=
Miniature Package + You and another person will be made into two recruitable characters in the game. Imagine that you are fighting with someone you care + your name in the credit as "Historical Backer". Free shipping.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,000 or more
About $2,000

Town Designer Package=
Miniature Package +
Help us create a town somewhere in the wasteland. Name it as you wish (within reason), and design the defining characteristics of the town. The town will be placed prominently in the game. + your name in the credit as "Associate Designer". Free shipping.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

Producer Package = Any previous rewards + 10 extra copies of the game+
We want to thank you for you generosity in person! You and one friend are invited to the Forsaken Fortress headquarters to spend a whole day with the development team to discuss the future of the game, etc. Participate in all aspect of the game development, and be listed as a Producer in the credits! You will also be invited to attend the Forsaken Fortress launch party.

Donor will be responsible for travel costs. Accommodation will be provided.